Pasteurizing-machine.



H. F. STOCK. PASTEURIZING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNEZI, 19H.

1 ,203,806. Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Witnesses: Inventor,

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H. STOCK. PASTEU RIZING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21, 1911. 1,203,806, Patented Nov. 7,1916.

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HENRY F. STOCK, 0F WAUKESI-IA, WISCONSIN.

PASTEURIZIITG-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

Application filed June 21, 1911. Serial No. 634,530.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY F. S'rooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVaukesha, in the county of Waukesha and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pasteurizing-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

The main objects of this invention are to expedite and facilitate pasteurizing bottled beer and the like, to economize heat, to maintain the requisite temperature in the machine, and to subject the beer or the like to such temperature for the proper period or periods to produce the desired effect withoutspecial care or attention on the part of operators; to facilitate access to the interior of the machine for cleansing or repairing the same; and generally to improve the construction and operation of machines of this class.

It consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as herein after particularly described and defined in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings like characters designate the same parts in the several figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a pasteurizing machine embodying the invention; Fig.

' 2 is a vertical longitudinal section thereof on the line 2 2, Fig. 3; Fig. 3 is an end elevation as viewed from the left relative to Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section on the line 4 4, Fig. 1.

The machine comprises a warming tank a, a pasteurizing tank I) and a cooling tank 0, arranged end to endin series in the order named. These tanks may be conveniently constructed of heavy sheet metal or boiler plate reinforced by a framework of angle bars or metal bars of other suitable shape or shapes. In the present case, where the conveyer belts return underneath the tanks, the tanks are supported a short distance above the floor on channel bar sleepers d and transverse channel bars 6 resting there- The warming and cooling tanks (1 and c are each partially divided into two compartments by a vertical transverse partition f, extending from the top thereof and terminatingsome distance above the bottom of the tank.

The pasteurizing tank Z) and the inner compartments of the warming and cooling tanks a and c are covered by a steam-tight hood 9, which like the tanks, is preferably constructed of heavy sheet metal or boiler plate,'reinforced by a framework of angle bars or other formsof metal bars. In the present case, where the bottle conveyer belts return underneath the tanks, the hood is extended at the ends over and beyond the outer compartments of the warming and cooling tanks at and 0, the overhanging ends thereof being open on the under side for the passage of the bottle conveyer into and out of the warming and cooling tanks. Transverse vertical partitions h, forming upward continuations of the partitions separate the middle portion of the hood covering the pasteurizing tank 6 and the inner compartments of the warming and cooling tanks a and a from the end portions covering the outer compartments of said warming and cooling tanks. The several tanks are provided on one side near the bottom with man holes and removable covers 2', and the middle compartment of the hood is provided in one side with a man hole and removable cover j, to admit light and air into the machine for the purpose of cleaning and repairing the same.

Link conveyer belts 7e are mounted and guided on wheels Z, m, n, 0-, 79 and 9, so as to run as indicated by arrows on Fig. 2, upwardly along and outside of the tank a into the hood 9, thence downwardly through the outer compartment of said tank, thence upward-1y through the inner compartment of said tank, thence downwardly into the tank I), through which they pass from end to end thereof, thencerupwardly out of said tank and downwardly through the inner compartment of the-tank 0, thence upwardly through the outer compartment of said tank and through the outer'compartment of the hood, thence downwardlyalong the outer end of the tank 0 and thence back underneath the several tanks to the feed end of the machine. The belts 70 are connected at intervals by cross rodsjr and on these rods are pivotally and removably suspended by hooked hangers 8, bottle trays t. The belt guiding and supporting wheels Z, on, n and 0 are flanged on their outer sides and formed with plain rims or peripheries for the belts 7a to bear upon. The wheels Z are mounted on short inwardly projecting studs on plates M which are bolted to the sides of the hood 9, as shown in Fig. 4, above and adjacent to the ends of the several tanks. The wheels m which are preferably of smaller diameter, are mounted in like manner on studs fastened to the sides of the tanks 64 and on opposite sides of and adjacent to the lower ends of the partitions f. The wheels n and 0 are mounted in like manner on the sides of the tank Z), the wheels 0 being located above and between the wheels at, so as to direct the conveyor belts with the bottle trays 2,, up and down in a sinuous course through said tank.

The guide wheels 19 are mounted on a cross shaft adjacent to the bottom and outer end of the tank a, and the wheels 9, which are formed with teeth or sprockets and serve as drive wheels, are similarly mounted on a cross shaft '0 at the opposite end of the machine adjacent to the bottomof the tank 0. Between the wheels 29 and g the return stretches of the belt 76 are supported and prevented from sagging by guides 20 fastened to the sleepers (Z.

The sprocket wheels Q7 are slowly rotated through the following connections As shown in Fig. 3, the shaft w is provided at the ends with gears 50 meshing With pinions 'g on a parallel cross shaft 2, one end with a sprocket wheel 2. This sprocket Wheel is connected by a link belt with a smaller sprocket wheel 3 on a cross shaft l which is provided at the opposite end with a worm gear 5. The worm gear 5 is driven as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, by a' worm 6, on a short shaft 7 provided with tight and loose pulleys 8, to be connected by a belt with a driving pulley (not shown). To take up slack in the conveyer belts 70, the studs on which the wheels Z at the feed end of the machine are mounted, are bolted to vertically movable slides 9, one of which is shown in Fig. 1 these slides being adjusted by nuts on bolts or threaded rods 10 connecting them with the upper part of the hood 9.

The upper and lower parts of the pasteurizing tank Z) are connected at one side of the machine, as shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 by circulating pipes 11, which are provided with steam injectors 12, arranged to induce a downward flow. of liquid through said pipes and to return into the lower part of the tank the warm water or liquid which rises therein, thereby tending to maintain a uniform temperature throughout the tank. The tank 6 issupplied with water or other liquidby a pipe 13,which is connected with one of the pipes 11 and is provided with a valve 14: for shutting 0E the supply. The injectors 12 are connected with a steam supply pipe 15 by a pipe 16, which is provided with a' diaphragm or other fluid pressure actuated valve 17 for controlling the supply which is provided at of steam to the injectors and with a check valve 18 and a cutoff valve 19. The diaphragm chamber of the valve 17 is connected by a pipe 20 with a thermostatic valve 21, which has a heat conducting pipe connection 22 with the tank 6, preferably near the vertical and longitudinal center thereof. The valve 21 is also connected with a compressed air reservoir 23 or other source of fluid pressure.. The reservoir 23 may be supplied with compressed air by a small belt driven pump or compressor 24,.as shown in Fig. 1. The outer compartments of the tanks at and c are connected on each side of the machine by a level equalizing and circulating pipe 25, and with one of these pipes is connected a water or liquid supply pipe 26, provided with a cut-off valve 27.

On each side of the machine a circulating pipe 28 is connected with the inner compartment of the tank a at different levels, and is provided with an injector 29 arranged to induce a downward flow of liquid in said pipe.

Each of the injectors 29 is connected by a circulating pipe 3O with the inner compartment of the tank 0, and each pipe 30 is provided with a steam injector 31 arranged to induce a flow of liquid through said pipe from the tank 0 toward the tank a. Each pipe 30 is also provided with a valve 32 between the injector 31 and the tank 6 for entirely cutting off communication between said pipe and said tank and for regulating the flow of liquid from thetank through said pipe. Each injector 31 is connected by a branch pipe 33 and a pipe 8d with the steam supply pipe 15. The pipe 3 L isprovided with a diaphragm or other fluid pres sure actuated valve 35, and between said valve and the pipe 15 witha cutoff valve 36. The diaphragm chamber of the valve 35 is connected by a pipe 37 with a thermostatic valve 38 having a heat conducting pipe connection 39 with the inner compartment of the tank a. with the compressed air reservoir 23 by a branch of a pipe a0, the other branch or? which leads to the valve 21. Pressure gages 4-1 are connected with the branches of the compressed air supplypipe a0 and with the pipes 20 and 37 on opposite sides of the thermostaticvalves 21 and 3.8. Each of the thermostatic valves is provided with an index 12- for adjusting it to close at any desired degree of temperature and for indi cating suchadjustment. Asvalves of this kind are old and welli known, and do not of themselves constitute a novel feature of the present invention, their construction and operation need not be shown and explained in detail.

As the diaphragm valve17 is opened at intervals for short periods during the opoperate intermittently to supply steam to The valve 38 is also connected the tank Z) and induce a downward flow of liquid in the circulating pipes 11, in order to maintain an approximately uniform temperature of the liquid throughout said tank while said injectors are inactive, rotary agitators 43 are provided in the lower part of said tank. Each of these agitators consists of inclined vanes or blades fixed on a short vertical shaft 44 mounted in a frame 45 and provided with a bevel gear 46. The frame 45 is supported by cross bars 47, spanning the tank and secured at their ends to its sides, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The agitators are rotated through shafts 48 having hearings in the frames 45 and extending therefrom through one side of the tank. The shafts 48 are provided at their inner ends with bevel gears 49 meshing with the gears 46 and at their outer ends With sprocket wheels 50, which are connected by a link belt, as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 2. One of these shafts 48 is also provided adjacent to its outer end with a sprocket wheel 51 which is connected, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, with a larger sprocket wheel 52 on the shaft 4. The bot-- toms of the several tanks at, b and 0 are pro vided as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with drain pipes or connections 53.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The several tanks having been filled with water through the supply pipes 13 and 26 by opening the valves 14 and 27 and said valves having been closed, steam is admitted by opening the valve 36 from the pipe 15 into the pipe 34 and thence through the branch pipes 33, the injectors 31, pipes 30, injectors 29 and pipes 28, into the inner compartment of the tank a, the valve 32 being closed. The water in said compartment is thus caused to circulate through the pipes 28 and is heated to a pasteurizing temperature or about 48 degrees Raumur. Steam is admitted by opening the valve 19 from the supply pipe 15 through the pipe 16, injectors 12 and circulating pipes 11 into the upper and lower parts of the tank 5, thereby heating the water therein to about the same temperature, 48 degrees R. The thermostatic valves 21 and 38 having been adjusted by their indexes 42 to open when subjected to about this degree of temperature through their heat conducting pipe connections 22 and 39, admit compressed air from the reservoir 23 through the pipes 20 and 37 to the diaphragm valves 17 and 35, thereby closing said valves when the temperature in tank 6 and the inner compartment of tank a reach the degree above mentioned. In heating the water in the inner compartment of tank a to a pasteurizing temperature, the water in the outer compartment of said tank in communication therewith is gradually warmed. The valves 32 being now opened, circulation is set up through the pipes 25 and 30 between the tanks at and 0, tending to equalize the temperatures in the connected compartments thereof and to warm the water in the inner compartment of tank 0. The bottle conveyer being set in motion, the trays t containing bottled beer or the like to be pasteurized, are suspended on the rods 1", as they pass upwardly into the hood '9 at the right, as seen in Fig. 2. in passing downwardly and upwardly through the outer and inner compartments of the tank a on opposite sides of the partition f, the bottles and their contents are gradually brought to a pasteurizing temperature before they enter the middle tank I), in which they are held at that temperature for a suflicient time to effectively destroy germs and pasteurize the beer or the like. After leaving the tank 7) the bottles and their contents in passing slowly downward and upward through the inner and outer compartments of the tank 0, are

gradually cooled to approximately the temperature of the outside air, thereby avoiding breakage of the bottles and loss of their contents. As the trays descend from the hood at the left, as seen in Fig. 2, they are unhooked and removed from the cross rods 1", the conveyer belts k and cross bars returning beneath the several tanks to the other end of the machine without the trays. The hot bottles and their contents passing through the tank a, gradually impart their heat to the water contained in said tank, tending to raise its temperature, while the 0001 bottles passing through the tank a;

gradually absorbing heat from the water contained therein, tend to lower its temperature. compartment of the tank 0 is thus caused to flow through the pipes 30 into the inner compartment of the tank a and to raise the temperature of the water, which the incoming bottles and their contents tend to cool, so that the temperature of the water in both of said compartments is maintained approximately equal to that of the water in the tank Z), or at about 48 degrees R. The water flowing from the inner compartment of tank 0 into the inner compartment of tank a, is supplied from the outer compartment of tank-a through the pipes 25 leading into the outer compartment of tank 0. The same liquid level is thus maintainedin the several compartments of said tanks 0;

and 0, while approximately the same tem-v perature is maintained by such circulation in the outer compartments thereof, such temperature being approximately 24 degrees 1%,.

The hotter water in'the inner.

the increase of temperature to which it is subjected through its pipe connection 22 with said tank, Will be opened and admit compressed air through the pipe 20 to diaphragm valve 17 thereby closing said valve and cutting off the further supply of steam to the injectors 12. In like manner the thermostatic valve 38 and the diaphragm valve 35 operate automatically to admit and out off the supply of steam through the pipes and 28 and the injectors 29 to the in nor compartment of the tank a, and thereby maintain the desired temperature of the Water therein.

During the time the injectors 12 are inactive and thereis but little if any circulation through the pipes 11, the water in the tank Z) is kept in circulation and its temperature equalized by the operation of the agitators 43. This is or" especial importance when the tanks are deep and there is in consequence, a tendency to considerable varia tion between the temperatures in the upper and lower parts of said tank, since any con siderable variation is very detrimental to the operation of the machine, if it does not altogether defeat its purpose. 7 When all the bottle trays t are removed from the conveyer, as when the operation of the machine is discontinued, free access is affor ed to the interlor of the several tanks, and cleaning the same, or making internal repairs are thus greatly facilitated.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for Various modifications in the details of construction and arrangement of parts other than those hereinbefore indicated may be made without materially affecting the operation of the machine or departing from the principle and scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a pasteurizing machine the combination of warming, pasteurizing and cooling tanks arranged in series in the order named and adapted to contain water respectively, the warming and cooling tanks each being provided with partitions extending down toward the bottoms of said tanks but terminating short of said bottoms to permit the passage of a conveyer and bottles thereunder, a hood extending over said tanks and covering the tops thereof and projecting beyond the Warming and cooling tanks and being open on the under side beyond said warming and cooling tanks and provided with partitions in its interior making steamtight oints with the partitions in the warniing and cooling tanks to provide a steam or vapor space over parts of the warming and cooling tanks and over the pasteurizing tank, and an endless conveyor for bottles passing up into the hood outside of the Warming tank down into the Warming tank under the partition therein and up through the Warming tank into the steam space in the hood thence down into the pasteurizing tank and up out of the pasteurizing tank into the steam space in the hood, then down into the cooling tank under the partition therein and up through the cooling tank into the hoodand down from the hood outside of the cooling tank and under the cooling, pasteurizing and Warming tanks.

In Witness whereof I hereto aifiX my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

' CHAS. L. Goss,

V FRED PALM.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. C. 

